Stampede Near India Shrine Kills 100
(NY Times, 1/15/11)
Learned a new god yesterday: Ayyappan.1
I’ll tellya, it’s hard to keep up—Hindus
Got a lotta them! Spawn of myriad views,
Crowded canvas of the superhuman.
This one emerged when Shiva asked to see
Vishnu as a female avatar. Stunned
By “her” beauty, he lost it, jumped “her” bones—
And thus (don’t ask), Ayyappan came to be.
I’m cool. Whatever floats your boat. No harm,
No foul! But some odd gods attract huge hordes—
Fifty million pilgrims, every year,
Trek to high Sabarimala shrine, charmed
By the awful power of this weird lord.
Panic! One hundred died! Clear, my earthly fear!
(1/23/11)
1 This one really needs a note—Google him. From Wickipedia: Shiva asked if he too could see Vishnu in this female form. When Vishnu appeared thus, Shiva was overcome with passion, and united with her. The two gods thus became “Harihara Murthi”, that is a composite form of Shiva and Vishnu as one god.
From this union, Lord Ayyappan was born. He combined in himself the powers of Vishnu and Shiva, and is a visible embodiment of their essential identity. Lord Vishnu gifted the newborn deity with a little bejeweled bell necklace, so this god is called Manikanthan Swamy. He is also called Shastha or Shasthappan by most South Indian communities